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Franca Bettoia | |
|---|---|
 Bettoia in the movie The Last Man on Earth | |
| Born | 14 May 1936 Rome, Kingdom of Italy |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Spouse | Ugo Tognazzi (1972–1990) (his death) |
| Children | Gianmarco Tognazzi Maria Sole Tognazzi |
Franca Bettoia (or Bettoja; born 14 May 1936) is an Italian actress known for her role as Ruth Collins in the film The Last Man on Earth.
Born in Rome, she made her first film appearance in Un palco all'opera (1955, by Siro Marcellini). The following year she appeared in Los amantes del desierto ("Desert Warrior", a Spanish-Italian desert epic starring Ricardo Montalbán, Carmen Sevilla and Gino Cervi. She next appeared opposite Pietro Germi in L'uomo di paglia (1958), and opposite Macha Méril and Jacques Charrier in the French production La main chaude (1960, by Gérard Oury). She appeared as a nun in Apocalisse sul fiume giallo ( The Dam on the Yellow River , 1960), an anti-Communist propaganda film which portrays the victory of Mao Zedong's People's Liberation Army as seen through the eyes of an American journalist (Georges Marchal) reporting from the side of the nationalists. In 1961, she starred opposite Alan Ladd in Orazi e Curiazi (Duel of the Champions), a sword and sandals adventure set in ancient Rome.
In 1964, Bettoia co-starred with Vincent Price in the horror/science fiction film The Last Man on Earth (1964, by Ubaldo Ragone and Sidney Salkow), the first screen adaptation of Richard Matheson's novel I Am Legend . She then played a princess in the adventure films Sandokan to the Rescue (1964) and Sandokan Against the Leopard of Sarawak (1964). In 1967 she appeared as Ugo Tognazzi’s lover in the comedy Il fischio al naso (The Seventh Floor, 1967). Bettoia and Tognazzi married in 1972. They had a daughter, film director Maria Sole Tognazzi.
Bettoia acted in only three more films after Il fischio al naso. In the comedy Riusciranno i nostri eroi a ritrovare l'amico misteriosamente scomparso in Africa? (1968, by Ettore Scola) she starred alongside Alberto Sordi and Bernard Blier. In Touche pas à la femme blanche (Don’t Touch the White Woman), directed by Marco Ferreri in 1974) she starred alongside Catherine Deneuve, Marcello Mastroianni, and Michel Piccoli. Her last film, Teste rasate (1993) is a drama about skinheads, in which her son, Gianmarco Tognazzi, plays the lead role.
In 1975, Franca Bettoia and her mother Maris founded the Gran Loggia Femminile d'Italia, the first Italian Masonic obedience exclusively for women which was officially recognized by the Grand Orient of Italy. [1] [2] [3] [4]
Claude Joséphine Rose Cardinale, known as Claudia Cardinale, is an Italian actress.
Sword-and-sandal, also known as peplum, is a subgenre of largely Italian-made historical, mythological, or biblical epics mostly set in the Greco-Roman antiquity or the Middle Ages. These films attempted to emulate the big-budget Hollywood historical epics of the time, such as Samson and Delilah (1949), Quo Vadis (1951), The Robe (1953), The Ten Commandments (1956), Ben-Hur (1959), Spartacus (1960), and Cleopatra (1963). These films dominated the Italian film industry from 1958 to 1965, eventually being replaced in 1965 by spaghetti Western and Eurospy films.
Emilio Salgari was an Italian writer of action adventure swashbucklers and a pioneer of science fiction.
Carlo Rustichelli was an Italian film composer whose career spanned the 1940s to about 1990. His prolific output included about 250 film compositions, as well as arrangements for other films, and music for television.
Adolfo Celi was an Italian film actor and director. Born in Curcuraci, Messina, Sicily, Celi appeared in nearly 100 films, specialising in international villains. Although a prominent actor in Italian cinema and famed for many roles, he is best remembered internationally for his portrayal of Emilio Largo in the 1965 James Bond film Thunderball. Celi later spoofed his Thunderball role in the film OK Connery opposite Sean Connery's brother, Neil Connery.
The Last Man on Earth is a 1964 post-apocalyptic science fiction horror film based on the 1954 novel I Am Legend by Richard Matheson. The film was produced by Robert L. Lippert and directed by Ubaldo Ragona and Sidney Salkow, and stars Vincent Price and Franca Bettoia. The screenplay was written in part by Matheson, but he was dissatisfied with the result and chose to be credited as "Logan Swanson". William Leicester, Furio M. Monetti, and Ubaldo Ragona finished the script.
Teresa Ann Savoy, FRSA was a British actress who appeared in a number of Italian films.
Ugo Tognazzi was an Italian actor, director, and screenwriter.
Sandokan is a fictional late 19th-century pirate created by Italian author Emilio Salgari. His adventures first appeared in publication in 1883. Sandokan is the protagonist of 11 adventure novels. Within the series, Sandokan is known throughout the South China Sea as the "Tiger of Malaya".
Maria Sole Tognazzi is an Italian film director.
Adalberto "Bitto" Albertini (1924–1999) was an Italian film director and screenwriter.
Aldo Bufi Landi was an Italian film actor. He appeared in more than 100 films between 1947 and 2013.
Luigi Capuano was an Italian film director and screenwriter. Born in Naples, he directed 43 films between 1947 and 1971.
Alberto Farnese was an Italian actor. He appeared in more than 80 films and television shows from 1951 to 1989. He starred in the film Whom God Forgives, which won the Silver Bear Extraordinary Prize of the Jury award at the 7th Berlin International Film Festival.
The Seventh Floor is a 1967 Italian comedy film directed by and starring Ugo Tognazzi. It is based on the short story "Sette piani" by Dino Buzzati, featured in the 1942 short story collection The Seven Messengers. The film was entered into the 17th Berlin International Film Festival.
Olga Villi, was an Italian model and actress.
Mino Doro was an Italian actor who appeared in more than a hundred films between 1932 and 1970. Doro generally played supporting and character roles. He appeared as a blackshirt in the 1934 Fascist propaganda film The Old Guard.
Giulio Marchetti was an Italian stage, film and television actor and presenter.
Sandokan to the Rescue is a 1964 historical adventure film directed by Luigi Capuano and starring Ray Danton, Guy Madison and Franca Bettoia. It was made as a co-production between Italy and West Germany. It is based on the 1907 novel Sandokan to the Rescue by Emilio Salgari featuring the character of Sandokan a Malayan pirate.
Sandokan Against the Leopard of Sarawak is a 1964 historical adventure film directed by Luigi Capuano and starring Ray Danton, Franca Bettoia and Guy Madison. It was made as a co-production between Italy and West Germany. It is based on the series of novels by Emilio Salgari featuring the character of Sandokan, a Malayan pirate.
